A Theory of Private Research Funding

Research can be carried out in academia, or in the private sector, or as a mixture, for example as privately funded academic research. We develop a theoretical framework in which private research funding (PRF) transfers information about the value of a research project from the private sector into academia, in an incentive compatible way. PRF dominates neither pure academia nor private research. We derive predictions about the optimal sequence of research designs, and about the optimal duration of a project within different designs. For example, PRF is never optimal if not preceded by pure academical research. We compare our results with stylized facts.